Society in Moll Flanders

That literature is a reflection of the society is a fact which has been widely acknowledged. Literature
indeed reflects the society, its virtues as well as its vices. Literature, as an imitation of human action,
often presents a picture of what people think, say and do in the society. Daniel Defoe is overt in his
critique of society in Moll Flanders, a book that is quite self-conscious about the learning experiences
of his protagonist and about the social forces shaping her and those she meets. The novel embodies
the economic and social problems in Britain in the first decades of the eighteenth century. Moll
herself dramatizes the particular difficulties of women, but she is not alone in finding it difficult in
making a living.

In eighteenth-century England, people were very conscious of their social positions. Marriages
between the wealthy and the poor were not common. Marriage of convenience was the norm. A
marriage of convenience is one in which each party is marrying for some reason other than love.
Quite often it is to improve one’s social status or for financial gain. For example, a young man who
has a title but no money might marry a young lady with money but no title to upgrade his social
position or increase his wealth.

Therefore, Moll’s first lover, an elder brother set to inherit his father’s estate, has an attitude toward
marriage that was quite typical at that time. He seeks out a woman with money and social status. As
the sister of the elder brother notes, “for the Market is against our Sex just now; and if a young
Woman have Beauty, Birth, Breeding, Wit, Sense, Manners, Modesty, and all these to an Extreme;
yet if she have not Money, she’s no Body”. Our eponymous heroine married Robin as a marriage of
convenience – she wanted money, social status, security and a desire to become a gentlewoman.

In the 1800's, the legal system was not in a woman's favor. Women would not inherit anything when
their husbands died. Therefore after the death of Robin, a widowed Moll decides to leave her children
in the care of the rich, doting, and settled grandparents. Indeed, as Miram Lerenbaum writes in “A
Woman on her Own Account,” it was not uncommon to see corpses of abandoned infants lying on the
streets in the eighteenth century, and perpetrators were usually forgiven with light sentence.
Therefore, Moll’s decision to leave her children behind can be seen as a sign of responsibility rather
than irresponsibility.

Moll’s undying desire of being a “Gentlewoman” led her to marry five different men for the sake of
social status and financial security. She had several affairs out of wedlock and also bore illegitimate
children. However, the separation from each of the men in her life left her penniless and bankrupt.
This financial crisis is not Moll’s alone; of her numerous husbands, one goes broke, another loses the
money he loaned and thus dying in despair, and yet another has to leave the country because of
bankruptcy.

Defoe uses Moll to exemplify variations on the eighteenth-century abandoned woman. Moll’s pursuit
of wealth is not to be seen as a quest for riches, but rather a desire to feel secure. Further, her choices
are practically made because she has a clear picture of her fate if she fails to act. She knows that she is
not safe in the eighteenth-century capitalist economy. There had once been a time in which women
could hold important positions in the workforce. However, that time had passed. Without licenses and
apprenticeship opportunities, it was nearly impossible to enter a professional and respectable
workforce with a promising wage. This meant that their working opportunities in the marketplace
were insufficient. Therefore, society played an important part in shaping Moll’s life and it forced her
into the world of crime.
In the 17th century, crime (at least thievery) really paid since labour was very cheap and things were
very expensive. Before the era of industrialization, the production of objects took an immense amount
of labour: a piece of cloth could be the result of many hours of work, though stealing it might only
take a minute. Even though labour was very cheap, the sheer amount of it which was required to make
an object added up to make theft a profitable line of business. For example, the governess bought a
lady's watch that Moll stole for 20 guineas, presumably less than it was worth, since it was stolen; 20
guineas would have supported one of Moll's children for 4 years. It would be by no means easy for
Moll to make a living doing honest work, but she grows rich rapidly as a pickpocket. The emphasis on
cloth underscores the fact that the production of cloth was a very important part of the 17th and 18th
century English economy.

Having committed herself to thieving, Moll, in a thoroughly businesslike manner, runs her career
enthusiastically so as to gain the greatest reward with the least risk, even searching out a trustworthy
pawnbroker who will not take advantage of her gender.

Theft was not the only illegal occupation open to women. In the 17th and 18th centuries, prostitution
was widespread in London. This was probably the result of a social system in which poor women
could hardly make an honest living, and completely lost their reputations if they were seduced, thus
making it almost impossible to get an honest job. A "fallen woman" had little choice but to remain on
the ground. Also, men could not engage in extramarital sex with respectable women, and commonly
married late.

Pregnancy outside wedlock was to be avoided in this era mired with religious hypocrisy and lack of
tolerance. Therefore, mid-wives were an important part of the lower strata of the then society. Theft
and prostitution were not without their risks, however: a criminal could be transported or hanged for
stealing a watch or a length of cloth. At the very least, they could expect to spend several weeks in
Newgate Prison, a lively but hellish place. In such a corrupt society, it’s not surprising that a
magistrate had the power to inflict severe penalties for the offence of incontinence - like fornication,
adultery and illegitimacy.

Most critics unanimously agree that Moll Flanders stands out as one of the all-time great of English
novels mainly because it portrays an accurate view of the life, crime, punishment, and prostitution that
are taking place during eighteenth century Europe. Defoe mixes together the stories of people he
actually knew in London to make up his characters. Defoe wove together several different stories in
order to present the novel as a partially true story. He wanted to do this so that his readers would be
aware of what is going on in eighteenth century Europe and in the criminal world. The novel contains
an accurate portrayal of the contemporary society.